Poetry on track

Jupinderjit Singh

A train winding its way through green fields, lakes and meadows opens up sights to behold. It is, however, sheer romance when the journey, in one of the world’s most comfortable coaches, takes you through glaciers and tunnels in the Swiss Alps.

Bernina Express Heritage Railway offers you this amazing experience. The journey begins from Chur, the oldest town in Switzerland, and ends in Tirano in Italy. It is practically from one base of the Alps in Switzerland to its highest point — the Bernina village, which stands at a height of 2,253 m. The train soars over the icy slopes and then glides down to the base of the mountains on the other side in Italy. Here the landscape is painted by fields and palms. The town of Chur has developed along the beautiful Plessur (Pleasure) river. It came into being around 3500-3000 BC and was once a gateway for trade along the Alpine region.

The best blessing in Chur is that you don’t see hordes of tourists swarming the bus or railway stations vying with each other for photos and selfies.

Awarded the Unesco World Heritage site in 2008, the almost 110-year-old rail route is undoubtedly an engineering marvel. The National Geographic Channel also lists the route as among the top 10 dangerously adventurous train travels in the world.

The most popular is the Bernina Express train, which is the longest train with eight coaches and sun windows. It starts from Chur everyday at 8.34 am and returns in the evening. The interiors of the train define comfort. Apart from its plush interiors and exotic food, the train offers surprise gifts and packages to celebrate birthdays and anniversaries aboard.

Regional trains with six interconnected coaches also run every hour on this route. The word ‘Regional’ is a misnomer here. The interiors are as comfortable as any world class train could have. Many tourists write in their reviews and blogs that regional train journey is better. It provides same scenery and opportunity to converse with the local passengers.

Though tourists like to book tickets for Bernina Express but due to high demand, these are sometimes not easily available. A regional train ticket with half the price of the Bernina Express is valid for one month. As the route and scenery is a paradise for photographers, many travel daily in regional trains. The windows can be opened offering you a chance to take photos from a better angle.

The tourists can leave the train at a village of their choice, spend the night there and then board another, thanks to the ticket’s validity. As soon as the train chugs out of Chur, a jaw-dropping vista of forests, meadows, hills and icy peaks and rivers, villages and farms flow past.

The train passes through 55 long tunnels and then gently curves up and down the 196 bridges and historic viaducts. The series of viaducts are a major attraction for the tourists. The challenge for photographers is to capture the train in its full curve entering the tunnel or coming down the viaduct.

The Solis Viaduct is 93 metre high. The next is the Landwasser viadut just before the tunnel connects the valley with Filisur village. The famous glacier express crosses this track at the Landwasser village. The most world’s most famous circular viaduct at Brusia, which comes towards the end of the journey, is a feast to the eyes.

Photographers from across the globe wait for hours near this viaduct to catch the perfect shot of the whole train on the bridge. On the way, you pass many lakes like Bianco (Lage in Swiss) and the most famous village and lake Poschiavo. If you have ample time, you can choose to stop at Davos or St Moritz and enjoy an exotic spa and hot springs. For nature lovers, there are plenty of cycling tracks, trekking paths and camp sites, besides wild life parks.

Fact File

Reaching there: From Zurich, you can catch a train, bus or taxi to Chur from where the Bernina heritage route begins.

How to go about it: It would be ideal to book hotels and Bernina tickets in advance. For regional trains, however, no booking is required. Ideally reach there a night in advance to relish the peace of the quaint town of Chur.

Once you reach Tirano in Italy, you can chose to return to Chur or proceed to Milan (Milano in Italian) or Venice. If you have booked the Bernina Express, the trip includes return journey to Chur. Also, it includes the optional bus trip to Lugano town in Italy, known for its famous lakes. Tirano is an interesting town. It has two railway stations. One is in Switzerland while the other is in Italy. To take a train to anywhere in Italy, you just have to cross over to the next door station.

Bernina schedule and Fare

Departure 8.32 am arrival 12:45 pm (Chur to Tirano on Bernina Express)

1st class fare: € 97+3+19*

2nd class fare € 55+3+19*

(*€19 is compulsory reservation charges. The fare changes depending on reservation time and season)